Prime and Not So Prime

Sorry to my loyal followers for not getting out a Blog update for so long. Spain was great in July but now we are all the way into November and I have not done a page since my twin blogs on Espania……..flog me with a Blennie!

Not so prime. I’ve found new food loves that would normally get by me back in the States. For instance, spicy carrot salad (Korean style) with meat surprise. Sophie came home and saw what I was eat the other day. She asked if I knew what it was. I said meat and carrot salad. She says “But what kind of meat?” I looked at the meat and said beef heart, probably the most disgusting thing my mother ever cooked when I was a child. Sophie says “no its chicken stomach”. TASTIE! I ate every bite. It tasted, well just like chicken!

Prime. We are now regulars at a store called Magnum. A Russian variant of Liquor Barn in the States. We have had some beautiful wines in the sub-twenty dollar range. This past weekend we had a Sicilian Syrah and a South African Pinotage. The Sicilian offering was exquisite with a vanilla nose that lasted the whole bottle and a smooth finish, no heavy alcohol tail on the back of the tongue. The Pinotage was the most exciting wine we’ve had in a very long time. Very fruity like black berries and banana on the front end and just the most beautiful lingering finish. We had both wines with good cheese and breads, forgoing the carrot and chicken salad as the food accompaniment.

Life chugs along in the Urals. We are now getting into the cold season. It’s been around -10 degrees for the past week. It’s fine so long as we don’t get wind. Dacha life is officially over for the year other than trips out to get deep well water for drinking. The mining and metals processing that has gone on here for 290 years has taken its tool on the water supply. You don’t drink water from the tap – ever! I’ve had skin anomalies come up since returning to Yekaterinburg. Some go away, some don’t and you have to go to the doctor and get treatment – all thanks to the water. So we go to collect well water at the Dacha village for our drinking. It’s an outing on Saturday or Sunday, to go out, fill up the water jugs and take a walk in the forest. This is the best time for the forest – it’s too cold for mosquitoes but still no snow on the ground.

Nadia is in her element here with a strong effort in ballet and an art/music class. Her classes consume Tuesday/Thursday and Wednesday/Friday respectively. Her nanny (Valentina Patrovena – “VP” for short) gives her pretty structured things to do during the earlier parts of the day that will put in the right frame when she goes to school.